This family-favorite restaurant in Oakland”s Glenview district closed in 2012 when the owners moved to St. Helena, and a British gastropub took over. But Growlers Arms failed to gain traction, as we reported here on the blog, and shut down last August.

So Marzano”s owners, John Hurley and Justin Hafen, reached out to their former general manager and chef, our correspondent Marta Yamamoto reports. “They said ”yes” in a heartbeat,” Hurley said.

New owners Manna Tekie(the GM)and Rob Holt (the chef) have brought back about 70 percent of the former staff.

“And to start off,” Yamamoto wrote, “everything will be familiar, just like coming home, from the star-billed pizzas and spicy pan-roasted octopus to wood oven-roast chicken that combines smoky, spicy and sweet and famous meatballs the children love.”